The Kehe Girl Trip Begins! 1/19

I left my hostel and took the subway back to the airport to meet the girls! I didn't have any email access (that darn China censoring!) so I went about an hour before the estimated time of their planes arrival. I was a bit nervous because if I didn't meet them and the tour group then, I would have to head back to the city and try to find them at the hotel. Thank goodness, they arrived and after a long round of hugs and kisses, we left with the tour group for the city.

I don't know if there are words to describe what it felt like to see my mom and sisters after almost five months. It was the longest time I had not seen any member of my family in my life, so it was a sweet reunion. I know my mom was very happy to see me: she bolted past the mob of people getting off the plane to be the first person to give me a hug from home.

We first went to the Yu Yuan Gardens, a beautiful garden that is right in the middle of the city. It was a peaceful place, surrounded by the bustle of the city. Even for January it was absolutely beautiful. What I thought was interesting about this garden was that it was built over several dynasties. As a result, parts of it are in a very different style from the other half. In part of the garden, there are a lot of very old trees, while in the other half, there is a lot of mixture between architecture and greenery.

After the garden, we went to our hotel (which was right on the Bund, great views from our rooms!) The girls were great troopers around the garden, but when they hit the beds in the room, they weren't getting back up. They fell asleep around five after a very long jet lagged day. Me and mom decided to go to a nearby convenience store to buy some noodles for dinner and some snacks for the next few days. We found a very cute family owned store just around the corner from our hotel. We also got to see the nighttime skyline of the city, which is one of the most incredible skylines I have ever seen. On our hotels side of the river, there are a lot of old French buildings. Across the river, there are a lot of the skyscrapers, and at night the buildings light up to create an urban masterpiece.